


bedside manner

by edgeofthewall



Category: The Bold Type
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-25
Updated: 2017-08-25
Packaged: 2018-12-19 18:36:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11903775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edgeofthewall/pseuds/edgeofthewall
Summary: In which Kat is a useless blob when she's sick and Adena takes pity.





	bedside manner

**Author's Note:**

> i relate to kat a lot so i figured she would be helpless when she's sick like me.

Adena isn’t surprised to see a phone call from Kat coming through. That’s par for the course these days, usually no more than a day or two between their phone calls, especially now that she’s back in New York.

She is surprised, however, when it’s not Kat’s voice on the other end.

“Hi, Kat. I was actually just about to-”

“Adena, it’s not Kat, it’s Sutton. I need your help.”

And that’s how Adena ends up at Kat’s apartment, being greeted by a very frazzled Sutton. 

_“Kat has a cold. I have a huge meeting today that I can’t miss and Jane is upstate for a story, and basically Kat is the most useless person on the planet when she’s sick. Do you think you could come keep an eye on her?”_  Adena had agreed in a heartbeat, but now seeing Sutton in person, who vaguely resembles someone who just spent an hour dealing with a toddler’s temper tantrum, she thinks maybe Kat’s best friend wasn’t overexaggerating.

“Hopefully there are sedatives in there,” Sutton says, gesturing toward the grocery bags in Adena’s hands, already halfway down the hallway, clearly eager to get away. “Good luck!” And she’s gone, and Adena cautiously steps inside, afraid of what she might find.

Honestly? It’s a war zone.

Kat is on the couch, cheeks flushed with what’s hopefully not a fever, underneath probably every blanket in the entire apartment building, surrounded by empty tissue boxes and tissues that never made it to the trash can a few feet away. Her eyes are closed, and she doesn’t seem to notice that there’s been a change in her company.

“Sutton, what are you doing? Do I have crackers? I don’t even know when I went shopping last.” Her voice is hoarse, and she finally opens her eyes, blinking a little. “Wait. Am I delusional?”

Adena laughs, coming fully into the apartment, setting the bags of groceries on the counter. “You might be, I’m not a professional, but at the very least I can assure you that you’re not hallucinating me.”

Kat still looks completely confused, giving a pathetic little sniffle. “Did Sutton call you? I’m totally fine.” In an attempt to demonstrate how fine she is, Kat starts to sit up, but immediately changes her mind, flopping back down with a groan. “Okay. I’m not fine. I feel like a cab ran me over.”

Frowning a little, Adena crosses to her, pressing a soft hand to Kat’s forehead. “Well, you’re burning up which I don’t think is a side effect to a hit and run.”

“So you  _are_  a professional now?”

“It doesn’t take a medical degree to recognize a cold.”

“I don’t think it’s a cold. This is the end, probably. Will you help me write my will?”

“Dramatic,” Adena says with a click of her tongue. “Now sleep. I’m going to make you soup.”

“Has anyone ever told you that your bedside manner is horrible?”

But Adena is pleased to see Kat has obediently closed her eyes, and she sets to work with a soft smile on her face.

* * *

 

What feels like only seconds later, Kat opens her eyes, blinking the room into focus. Realizing suddenly that she’s incredibly warm, she kicks off the blankets, annoyed by how sweaty she is before realizing it means her fever has broken. She sits up carefully, body still aching a little.

She vaguely remembers Sutton coming over early before work, and then after that Adena, but she’s pretty sure that was a dream.

Except now that dream is crossing the room with a bowl of soup on a tray, and Kat suddenly feels a little embarrassed.

“How are you feeling?” Adena asks, setting the tray down on the coffee table and sitting beside the blankets Kat has abandoned on the floor. “Not cold anymore?”

“No, no, I think my fever broke.” Kat runs a hand over her flushed face. “I’m so sorry you gave up your day, Sutton shouldn’t have called you, I could’ve-”

“Kat,” Adena interrupts gently, and Kat’s stomach flips as always. She’d never known someone saying her name could do that. “Filling my day with taking care of you is hardly a loss. And now I get to show off my incredible knowledge of French cooking.”

Kat glances at the soup, raising her eyebrows. “Is that French onion? Hardly the most authentic.” She grins at Adena, sliding off the couch to sit beside her on the floor. “Kidding. Thank you. Really, I appreciate it.”

Adena smiles in return, pulling her own bowl close to her, but before she can pick up her spoon, Kat reaches out impulsively, taking her hand.

“I mean it. I… missed you, you know.”

Adena’s eyes soften, thumb dragging over the back of Kat’s hand softly, and Kat feels her cheeks flush again, completely unrelated to her cold.

“I missed you too.”

She should let that be the end of it, eat her soup, and go back to sleep, but Kat’s never been the best at keeping her thoughts to herself.

“And Coco, you… do you miss her now that you’re back?”

Adena is silent for a long moment, the longest moment of her entire life probably, before she finally answers.

“If I missed her the way I missed you, I wouldn’t have come back.”

The words take a moment to sink in, but when they do, Kat can’t stop herself from surging forward to capture Adena’s lips in a kiss. She can feel Adena smiling into the kiss, before she pulls away suddenly, clapping her hand over her mouth. “Oh, Adena, I’m so–I forgot I was sick.”

Adena laughs heartily at that. “Don’t worry about it, Kat. I’m sure you’ll return the favor.”

And she does, a week later, when Adena comes down with a cold.

But at least this time, Adena was already at her apartment.”


End file.
